"It is the confession, not the priest, that gives us absolution."

August 6, 2011 7:38 AM

Bookfessions: [tumblr] "These are confessions and/or thoughts of a book lover, bibliophile, book addict, reader, lover of literature, nerd..."
posted by Fizz (19 comments total)

Some of my favourites.
posted by Fizz at 7:40 AM on August 6, 2011

The word is bookworm.
posted by Sys Rq at 7:59 AM on August 6, 2011

Some of these aren't so much confessions as, well... like a friend I have who sometimes will meet up with me for coffee and say: "I have a confession..." and lean over conspiratorially. And the confession is always something along the lines: "I totally got high on a work night with this cute guy and then we went paragliding at midnight and then made love until sunrise." Or: "Oh man, yesterday I snuck out of work to go for a walk in the forest and I saw a wild turkey fight off an enraged moose." Or: "I feel so bad, I got a raise at work and none of my coworkers did, and then when my coworkers heard about it, they burst into spontaneous applause and started crying with joy and hugging me."
posted by Kattullus at 8:05 AM on August 6, 2011 [4 favorites]

I guess I have to admit at this point that I still really don't get Tumblr. It's like a blog, but not really, and you can only (sort of) comment if you have your own Tumblr, but pretty much nobody ever comments or has discussions, they just "like" and "reblog" pictures? Right? Isn't it awfully insular, especially since there's no real way to have a conversation like you can on an actual blog? And 90% of the pictures that get posted are somebody else's, usually, and even in this case -- little "confessions" submitted by other Tumblr people, converted into images for no apparent reason other than hey, it's Tumblr, images are what we do here.
posted by Gator at 8:14 AM on August 6, 2011 [11 favorites]

I like these. I have two decades of working with books, and the common foibles of bibliophiles are pretty familiar to me. So these confessions are, on one hand, dreadfully pedestrian. But, on another hand, they feel precious to the person telling them, so they are like a nondescript pebble you keep because you found it on a first date or a funeral or something.

Then I remember that this is my story about these posts, and the actual posters likely mean something completely different.
posted by GenjiandProust at 8:23 AM on August 6, 2011 [2 favorites]

When I was a teenager I accrued over a hundred dollars in late fees at the local library, then lied and told them I hadn't been able to return my books on time because I was in the hospital having my appendix removed.

Then the late fees got out of hand again but I was too ashamed to try and bullshit them again, and they ended up sending a collection agency after me.
posted by bookish at 8:38 AM on August 6, 2011 [3 favorites]

Also, when I'm taking a shit and there's no book handy, I read the flavor text and ingredient lists on shampoo bottles. Because I can't not read when I'm pooing.
posted by bookish at 8:39 AM on August 6, 2011 [9 favorites]

I was around a fire recently and the discussion turned to Reading Your Mom's books, apparently it was something of an unspoken rite of passage that you'd read your mom nightable paperback on the fly. We tried to see if there was any difference between people who read Valley Of The Dolls or Surrender The Pink or The Stand.

( I got In A Graveyard At Midnight: Folk Magic and Wisdom from the Heart of Appalachia, oh mom)
posted by The Whelk at 8:41 AM on August 6, 2011 [1 favorite]

bookish

eponysterical for the late 80's reverse the curse on radio rap fans.
posted by cashman at 8:52 AM on August 6, 2011

Also, when I'm taking a shit and there's no book handy, I read the flavor text and ingredient lists on shampoo bottles. Because I can't not read when I'm pooing.

"Flavor" and "pooing" don't belong in the same comment.
posted by madcaptenor at 8:59 AM on August 6, 2011 [1 favorite]

When I was about ten, I decided to clean out a bookshelf and organize it. Pulling the tiny plastic bookshelf away from the wall, I found a book I had thought lost, and promptly starting reading it while wedged behind the bookshelf. I was so absorbed that I didn't hear my mom calling me to go, and she thought I had gone with my father. When I finished the book, I realized I was home alone and panicked. Luckily for me, both my parents arrived home two minutes later, frantic that I had been left behind.

When it comes to books, a bomb could go off I don't think I'd notice.
posted by dustpatterns at 9:24 AM on August 6, 2011 [1 favorite]

THESE ARE CONFESSIONS AND/OR THOUGHTS OF A BOOK LOVER, BIBLIOPHILE, BOOK ADDICT, READER, LOVER OF LITERATURE, NERD...CALL ME WHAT YOU WILL, BUT HERE THEY ARE.

That is a surprising quantity of bad writing stuffed into one short sentence there.

I also don't really understand Tumblr. But I couldn't figure out Twitter, either.

I like some of these little confessions, though. It was kind of fun to read through a few screens of them, and either go, "Oh, yeah, that's what it's like" or mentally argue with them.
posted by not that girl at 9:26 AM on August 6, 2011

It's PostSecrets for books. I like it
posted by growabrain at 9:36 AM on August 6, 2011

Also, when I'm taking a shit and there's no book handy, I read the flavor text and ingredient lists on shampoo bottles.

I'll read whatever is around me if I'm in a situation that would otherwise be boring.
posted by drezdn at 9:46 AM on August 6, 2011 [1 favorite]

700. I decided to have a book with me wherever I go thanks to Rory Gilmore.

That would seem to say more about your relationship with television than your relationship with books.
posted by penduluum at 9:47 AM on August 6, 2011

As a kid, I caused intense confusion and annoyance amongst the librarians one afternoon when I tried to return my allocation of three books and they couldn't find the tickets. This was before computers, when your ticket was a little fold of cardboard, into which they placed a stub representing the book.

Eventually after searching all over the place for ages, they thought to ask me when I'd taken the books out. The problem was that I'd borrowed them that morning, read them all and was returning for a new batch. The tickets only got filed once a day, after the library closed to visitors.
posted by TheophileEscargot at 12:58 PM on August 6, 2011 [1 favorite]

Is it wrong to be annoyed that she clearly states in one that she just can't reread books because then she'd never have time for all the ones she wants to read, but then in others talks about re-reading books (Harry Potter).

Maybe I'm in a mood because it reads to me like "look at me and how dedicated to reading I am." Maybe that is the idea, but - meh.

And now for my dorky, look at me anecdote: I was packing up to move one day some time ago, came across Anne McCaffery's Menolly series (the Harper Hall trilogy), plopped down on the floor and read all three straight through.
posted by Glinn at 7:58 AM on August 7, 2011

Glinn: "Is it wrong to be annoyed that she clearly states in one that she just can't reread books because then she'd never have time for all the ones she wants to read, but then in others talks about re-reading books (Harry Potter)."

The majority of these are user-submitted. The 'credit:' underneath each images shows who actually said each thing.
posted by Hargrimm at 1:18 PM on August 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

Oh. Yes, they sure do. I have avoided twitter, perhaps I should continue. ;)
posted by Glinn at 4:55 PM on August 7, 2011